66 



&rr atfurg of Natural f 



have endeavoured to collect, from the wri- 

 tings of various Ornithologists, such particu- 

 lars as appeared to be best calculated to 

 illustrate the subject in a manner the most 

 simple, natural, and familiar ; and in so 

 doing we have made the just and sensible 

 remarks of the ingenious Thomas Bewick 

 the basis on wliich to build whatever we 

 have thought necessary to add, or to glean 

 from other sources. 



Every part of nature is furnished with its 

 proper inhabitants ; the woods, the waters, 

 and the depths of the earth, have their re- 

 spective tenants ; while the passive air and 

 those tracts of seeming space too elevated 

 for man to ascend, are traversed by multi- 

 tudes of feathered beings, whose buoyancy 

 and beauty are alike the objects of our ad- 

 miration. But the symmetry and elegance 

 discoverable in their outward appearance, 

 although highly pleasing to the sight, are 

 yet of much greater importance when con- 

 sidered with respect to their peculiar habits 

 and mode of living, to which they are emi- 

 nently subservient. Instead of the large 

 head and formidable jaws, the deep capa- 

 cious chest, the brawny shoulders, and the 

 sinewy legs of the quadrupeds ; we observe 

 the pointed beak, the long and pliant neck, 

 the gently swelling shoulder, the expansive 

 wings, the tapering tail, the light and bony 

 feet ; which are all wisely calculated to assist 

 and accelerate their motion through the 

 yielding air. Every part of their frame is 

 formed for lightness and buoyancy ; their 

 bodies are covered with a soft and delicate 

 plumage, so disposed as to protect them from 

 the intense cold of the atmosphere through 

 which they pass ; their wings are made of 

 the lightest materials, and yet the force with 

 which they strike the air is so great as to 

 impel their bodies forward with astonishing 

 rapidity, whilst the tail serves the purpose 

 of a rudder to direct them to the different 

 objects of their pursuit. The internal struc- 

 ture of birds is no less wisely adapted to the 

 same purposes ; all the bones are light and 

 thin, and all the muscles, except those which 

 are appropriated to the purpose cf moving 

 the wings, are extremely delicate and light ; 

 the lungs are placed close to the back-bone 

 and ribs ; the air entering into them by a 

 communication from the wind-pipe, passes 

 through, and is conveyed into a number of 

 membraneous cells which lie upon the sides 

 of the pericardium, and communicate with 

 those of the sternum. In some birds these 

 cells are continued down the wings, and 

 extended even to the pinions, thigh-bones, 

 and other parts of the body, wliich can be 

 filled and distended with air at the pleasure 

 of the animal. 



All birds are furnished with two very 

 strong pectoral muscles on each side of their 

 breast-bones. In quadrupeds, as well as in 

 men, the pectoral muscles are trifling in 

 comparison with those of birds. In the for- 

 mer, the muscles of the thighs and the hinder 

 parts of the body are by far the strongest ; 

 but in birds it is far otherwise ; the pectoral 

 muscles which give motion to their wings 

 are amazingly strong, whilst those of their 

 thighs are weak and slender. By means of 



these a bird can move its wings with a de- 

 gree of strength which is almost incredible : 

 the flap of a swan's wing would break the 

 leg of a man ; and a similar blow from an 

 eagle has been known to cause instant death. 

 Such, consequently, is the force of the wing, 

 and such its lightness, as to be inimitable by 

 human art. 



The eyes of birds are admirably adapted 

 to vision, by a particular expansion cf their 

 optic nerves, which renders the impression 

 of external objects more vivid and distinct. 

 From this peculiar conformation, it appears 

 that the faculty of sight in birds is infinitely 

 superior to that of other animals, and, in- 

 deed, is indispensably necessary to their 

 support and security. Were the eye less 

 perfect, the bird, from the rapidity of its 

 motion, would probably strike against al- 

 most every object in its way ; as well as be 

 totally incapable of discerning its proper 

 food when soaring in its own element. 



In mental capacity birds fully equal quad- 

 rupeds, and in some respects surpass them. 

 Parrots, starlings, &c., retain in memory 

 many words and phrases which they have 

 been taught, and many singing-birds whole 

 melodies. Their powers of memory seem 

 also to be evinced by the fact that birds of 

 passage, after an absence of six months, or 

 even a longer time, and after travelling 

 thousands of miles, return to their former 

 home ; the swallow to her beam, the finch 

 to the tree where last year she reared her 

 young, or where she herself was hatched. 

 The difference between such birds as love to 

 dwell in uninhabited places, secure from 

 persecution, and such as are found in the 

 neighbourhood of men, surrounded by dan- 

 gers, is a proof that their prudence, cunning, 

 and docility can be awakened and im- 

 proved. 



The voice is a peculiar gift of Nature, by 

 which the greater part of birds are distin- 

 guished from all the rest of the animal world. 

 The wind-pipe of birds is composed of entire 

 rings of cartilage, with an exception in the 

 case of the ostrich. At its bifurcation is a 

 glottis supplied with appropriate muscles, 

 called the lower or inferior larynx. It is 

 here that the voice of birds is formed ; the 

 vast body of air contained in the air-cells 

 contributes to the force, and the wind-pipe, 

 by its form and movements, to the modifica- 

 tion, of the voice. The superior larynx is 

 very simple and unimportant. The gift of 

 song is given to the male birds only, and 

 their notes are mostly an expression of love. 

 They sing only when they are cheerful ; in 

 sadness, during rougli weather, and in bodily 

 disorders, they are silent. It is commonly 

 said that the gift of song is confined to the 

 birds in northern climates, and that nature, 

 in the warmer regions, has endowed them, 

 instead, with more brilliant colours ; but 

 Foster relates, that in Otaheite the birds 

 sing with charming sweetness ; and Cook, 

 on his first voyage, found the forests of 

 Queen Charlotte's Sound, in New Zealand, 

 filled with little birds, whose voices sounded 

 like silver bells. To no other animal have 

 such various tones been granted for giving 

 utterance to different feelings : hunger, fear, 



